In their profession, vascular surgeons must quickly locate and repair damaged veins. Many times these veins are of substantial size, and patients with a torn, severed, or burst vein may suffer substantial vital blood loss before the veins can be repaired if the flow of blood out of the damaged vein is not substantially lessened while the surgeon operates.
Therefore, vascular surgeons and their assistants typically control the blood loss from damaged veins by local pressure and/or cross clamping the injured vessel on both sides of the damages area to allow definite repair of the injured vessel.
Proximal and distal control of the inuured vein may not be possible or effective in patents with presence of massive hemorrhage such as injuries located in an area of major veins confluence such as interior vena cava bifurcation, suprarenal retrohepatic vena cava, portal vein confluence, and the like.
It has been discovered, as will become apparent hereinbelow, that the novel medical forceps of the invention may be used to effectively control catastrophic hemorrhage from laceration of a substantial size vein when other methods or clamps could not be used or are ineffective. In these circumstances, with digital compression and sequential application of this novel clamp the threatening hemorrhage is controlled and definite repair of the injured vein is possible. This novel clamp allows the vascular surgeon to cross clamp the vessel when needed or feasible, while also allowing for sequential side clamping of injured undissected vessels without proximal and distal control.
In sequential side clamping the vein opening is clamped shut by a series of medical forceps clamped side by side along the opening of the vein. This method clamps only the portion of the vein that is torn, punctured or cut and operates to close the opening, while cross clamping stems the flood of blood into the damaged area by clamping the entire width of the vein. The sequential side clamping is more appropriately used when an axial tear is present along a portion of the vein. Medical forceps of the prior art do not provide adequate means for sequential side venous closure. Such prior art medical forceps, when used during vascular surgery, provide a bite which is too sharp or harsh, and therefore tend to puncture or tear the vein to which they are clamped.
Thus there exists the need for a means for temporary closure and stemming the flow of blood through a damaged vein of substantial size, without causing further damage to the vein or adjacent vital organs, in order to aid the vascular surgeon in operating on the controlling massive life threatening hemorrhage, and repairing a torn, severed, punctured or burst vein unable to be controlled by other means.